Loots Bosman is a doubtful starter for the Twenty20 World Championship after hurting his lower back while attempting a catch in the second ODI against Zimbabwe at Harare on Saturday. Initial reports suggested Bosman might require surgery, but Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, indicated that the injury might not be so serious.”Loots has been examined by a specialist in Johannesburg and it seems it’s not as serious as we thought,” Arthur was quoted as saying by . “We will know later in the week what the position is.”Bosman suffered the injury when trying to catch Tatenda Taibu off Dale Steyn at the boundary. He failed in his attempt, and instead crashed into the advertising boards, hurting his back in the process. He was carried off the field in a lot of pain and didn’t bat later in the afternoon.Bosman hasn’t had a lot of success in one-day internationals so far, but he has been a star in the domestic Twenty20 matches, scoring 679 runs in 23 games at 32.33 and a phenomenal strike rate of 147.93, with a highest score of 104.
Never let it be said that West Indies cricket is incapable of maintaining a level of newsworthiness to keep it almost perpetually in the public eye.This CJ issue thing will eventually boil down like bhaji and then we will all move on to some other matter to keep the fires of politically-inspired bacchanal burning. Israel will sooner or later complete the obliteration of southern Lebanon, especially with their civilised Western allies facilitating the process of annihilation in adopting a hands-off policy. And a month after Trinidad and Tobago’s final game at the World Cup, the football frenzy has run out of steam.But, as always, sports editors wondering about the prospects for a good lead story can always rely on the players, administrators and apparently now even the accountants associated with West Indies cricket to provide them with main headline material, unless of course someone like George Bovell goes and wins gold and bronze medals in the swimming pool on the same night at the CAC Games, as he did on Wednesday in Cartagena.The challenge, of course, is to choose from the many items generously spread across the massive buffet table. Would you like to try the auditors’ damning report on the level of the West Indies Cricket Board’s indebtedness? How about the decisions to overlook Dwayne Bravo for a retainer contract and investigate Brian Lara’s public criticism of selection and pitches? Don’t forget that you can also satisfy your appetite with a bit of what the Players’ Association is now saying in response to the WICB’s latest pronouncements. Maybe you should get a bigger plate, but still come back for a second helping.If this is a calculated effort to distract attention from the inaugural Stanford 20/20 in Antigua, then it is a masterstroke, although, to be fair, the tournament hasn’t exactly ignited much interest in this part of the Caribbean as yet (I don’t know too many people losing sleep to watch the delayed television coverage).While none of the information leaked or released in the past week is entirely surprising, it is still instructive as to the real depth and scope of the problems in West Indies cricket, raising enough questions to suggest that a few too many trumpets were used in all of the fanfare about running a tighter, more efficient ship and establishing a new relationship between administration and players.If the WICB and its World Cup subsidiary can incur a net loss of over $120 million for the financial year ended September 30, 2005, what will be the situation at the end of September, 2006, given that considerably greater activity would be taking place in the lead-up to the hosting of the 2007 World Cup? Are we to believe that such losses are normal, given the size of the undertaking, apart from the general year-to-year operations, even if it meant that the WICB’s accumulated deficit at that stage had soared beyond $210 million?One of the many things we learnt in school was the danger of putting all your eggs in one basket, yet the Board is relying heavily on the success of the World Cup to haul it out of the abyss, even though the auditors have observed that “the extent of the financial success of this event is not guaranteed”. No roti shop worth its dhalpouri would operate like this.Dinanath Ramnarine, West Indies Players’ Association president and chief executive officer, has stated that the decisions to bypass Bravo for a retainer contract on the basis of his recent personal endorsement deal with Cable and Wireless, and to appoint a committee to investigate Lara’s comments after the fourth Test against India earlier this month, “contravene fundamental aspects” of agreements in relation to the Memorandum of Understanding and Collective Bargaining Agreement, among other matters, between the WICB and WIPA.If so, was the Board engaged in mamaguy tactics three months ago just so that the home series against Zimbabwe and India could proceed untroubled by the threat of industrial action? Given the evidence of the last year-and-a-half, is this how it’s going to be ahead of every series or tour for the foreseeable future, especially with speculation already in the air that the proposed money-spinning one-day series against India in Toronto next month is in jeopardy because it was agreed to without any consultation with WIPA?And what is to be made of this investigation of Lara? Right or wrong, good or bad timing, Lara’s remarks in Kingston were the culmination of a series of comments relating to selection and pitches throughout the series against India, all of which were made publicly and were extensively reported in the regional and international media. So what are Sir Alister and Messrs Gordon, Lloyd and Shillingford going to investigate?As usual, such a bewildering course of action could only come from an organisation divided unto itself, with some members determined to show the captain who is boss, especially after they were apparently sidelined in the process to appoint Lara as captain for a third time. So now, two of the Caribbean’s leading personalities – Sir Alister McIntyre and Clive Lloyd – have been dragged into this foolish exercise to give it legitimacy.If anything, the real challenge for these four gentlemen is how to come up with a report that will accomplish the dual purpose of saving face for the Board and not getting the captain blue mad.I wish them well.
The United Cricket Board of South Africa is set to lose a major sponsor – MTN, the cellphone company – after it refused to renew its contract which expires in September, citing excessively high demands from the board. According to a report on the News24 website, South African cricket could be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy within the next 18 months if the financial condition doesn’t improve.”We do not have unlimited funds and the question had to be asked whether we can put our money to better use,” said Victor Rahkale, a senior sponsorship manager at MTN. “A decision was taken to focus on soccer and the World Cup tournament in 2010 in particular. Soccer is the ideal vehicle to support our involvement in the rest of Africa and our expansion into that market.”However, Rahkale didn’t rule out the possibility of negotiations in future. “If South African cricket can come up with a more affordable option, we could look at it again sometime in the future.”MTN sponsored South African cricket to the tune of about R10m every year and the total annual contribution was about R20m. During the seven-year involvement, MTN contributed more than R100m, sponsoring the Test side to club tournaments and development programs.Steve Elworthy, the commercial manager of Cricket South Africa, hinted that Castle Lager may be appointed as the sole sponsor of the national side in future, and hoped that MTN would continue their cellphone contract sponsorship of the board. “We still have 083 numbers and hopefully we can get MTN to stay on board as far as our cellphones go,” said Elworthy. “We are now negotiating with Castle Lager – the other Test sponsor – about a package to sponsor Test cricket of the next three years and hopefully this will include an increased financial contribution.”Elworthy further added that they were negotiating with South African Airways to become the new sponsor of amateur cricket.
Sri Lanka’s selectors have named a 22-man training pool for the forthcomingfive-match one-day series against Zimbabwe. The squad will start trainingfor the tour from April 4.The pool includes several new faces, including Farveez Maharoof, a medium pace allrounder who captained the Sri Lankan Under-19 team in Bangladesh, andThilina Kandamby and Ian Daniel, batsmen who had an impressive tour of New Zealand with the A team.Sri Lanka are scheduled to play five one-dayers and two Tests during their month-long tour to Zimbabwe, beginning April 20.Pool of 22 1 Marvan Atapattu, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Russel Arnold, 8 Upul Chandana, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Nuwan Zoysa, 11 Dilhara Fernando, 12 Muttiah Muralitharan, 13 Saman Jayantha, 14 Nuwan Kulasekera, 15 Rangana Herath, 16 Thilina Kandamby, 17 Farveez Maharoof, 18 Prasanna Jayawardene, 19 Ian Daniel, 20 Avishka Gunawardene, 21 Chamila Gamage, 22 Kaushal Lokuarachchi.
ANDY BLIGNAUT IN ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALSComplete to 31 March 2003
Abbreviations:A = Australia N = NamibiaB = Bangladesh NZ = New ZealandE = England P = PakistanH = Holland SA = South AfricaI = India SL = Sri LankaK = Kenya WI = West IndiesOpponents (Venue) No. How out Runs (Balls) Ct (No) O M R W1999/2000, TRIANGULAR TOURNAMENT IN SINGAPORE; 2, 4 Sept 19991 WI (Singapore) L (6) c +R D Jacobs b R D King 1 (3) – (7) 3.4 0 26 02 I (Singapore) L (9) b A R Kumble 0 (6) 1 (3) 6 0 35 21999/2000, TRIANGULAR TOURNAMENT IN KENYA; 2 Sept3 K (Nairobi Gym) L (8) c H S Modi b S O Tikolo 0 (2) – (4) 1 0 5 01999/2000, v AUSTRALIA (home); 21, 23, 24 Oct4 A (Queens SC) L (8) c M E Waugh b A Symonds 27 (15) – (3) 10 0 60 15 A (Harare SC) L (8) not out 21* (32) – (3) 6 0 24 16 A (Harare SC) L (7) c M G Bevan b S K Warne 1 (9) – (3) 6 1 25 01999/2000, v WEST INDIES (away); 15 April 20007 WI (St George’s) L (6) b Abdur Razzaq 3 (7) – (2) 7 0 37 12000/01, v BANGLADESH (home); 7, 8, 11 April 20018 B (Harare SC) W did not bat – – (3) 10 1 24 29 B (Harare SC) W (4) c Mohammad Rafique b Monjurul Islam 13 (11) – (3) 8 0 28 210 B (Queens SC) W did not bat – 1 (3) 10 0 41 22000/01, in ZIMBABWE (Triangular Tournament); 23, 24, 27 June, 1 July11 WI (Harare SC) L (5) run out (C E Cuffy) 25 (27) – (1) 10 0 53 112 I (Harare SC) L (8) c Harbhajan Singh b S C Ganguly 13 (36) – (4) 6 0 36 013 I (Queens SC) L (7) c Harbhajan Singh b A B Agarkar 11 (9) – (1) 10 0 41 014 WI (Queens SC) L (7) not out 12* (10) 1 (3) 10 1 50 02002/03, v PAKISTAN (home); 23 Nov 200215 P (Queens SC) L (7) c Shahid Afridi b Shoaib Akhtar 55 (39) 1 (1) 10 0 52 02002/03, v KENYA (home); 15 Dec16 K (Queens SC) W (3) not out 63* (43) – (1) 6 0 29 22002/03, WORLD CUP IN ZIMBABWE AND SOUTH AFRICA; 19, 24, 28 Feb, 4, 8, 12, 15 March 200317 I (Harare SC) L (6) c D B Mongia b S C Ganguly 2 (5) – (2) 10 0 54 118 A (Queens SC) L (8) c and b B Lee 54 (28) – (2) 10 0 53 019 H (Queens SC) W (6) c J F Kloppenburg b E Schiferli 58 (38) 1 (1) 10 1 30 020 P (Queens SC) D did not bat – – –21 NZ (Bloemfontein) L (7) run out (B B McCullum) 4 (5) – (3) 10 0 41 222 K (Bloemfontein) L (7) run out (M O Odumbe) 4 (8) – (2) 9 1 36 123 SL (East London) L (7) c P A de Silva b C R D Fernando 1 (5) – (2) 8 0 40 0ANDY BLIGNAUT’S WICKETS IN ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALSODI no. and venue Wkt no., batsman no. and dismissal (* = World Cup)1999/20002 v India (Singapore) 1 (3) R S Dravid c N C Johnson 122 (5) A R Khurasiya c +A Flower 54 v Australia (Queens SC) 3 (7) A Symonds c G W Flower 15 v Australia (Harare SC)) 4 (1) A C Gilchrist c N C Johnson 187 v Pakistan (St George’s) 5 (2) Shahid Afridi c D P Viljoen 192000/018 v Bangladesh (Harare SC) 6 (8) Mushfique Rahman c H H Streak 317 (5) Akram Khan bowled 359 v Bangladesh (Harare SC) 8 (4) Mehrab Hossain c +A Flower 119 (7) Khaled Mashud c H H Streak 310 v Bangladesh (Queens SC) 10 (2) Mehrab Hossain bowled 1311 (5) Akram Khan c A D R Campbell 2511 v West Indies (Harare SC) 12 (4) S Chanderpaul c T J Friend 512002/0316 v Kenya (Queens SC) 13 (2) R D Shah c +T Taibu 014 (3) B J Patel c C B Wishart 817 v India* (Harare SC) 15 (4) S C Ganguly c H H Streak 2421 v New Zealand* (Bloemfontein) 16 (2) S P Fleming lbw 4617 (4) S B Styris c sub (T J Friend) 1322 v Kenya* (Bloemfontein) 18 (3) S O Tikolo c H H Streak 2RESULTS OF ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS PLAYED INPlayed 23 Won 5 Lost 17 Tied 0 Drawn 1(105 possible since debut)MOST CONSECUTIVE ODIs PLAYED7, in 2000/01 and in 2002/03MOST CONSECUTIVE ODIs MISSED31, from 2000 to 2000/01ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL CAREER RECORDRECORD FOR EACH SEASONM I NO Runs HS Av. Balls R/Ov 100 50 Ct O M R W Av. Best R/Ov1999/00 7 7 1 53 27 8.83 74 4.29 – – 1 39.4 1 212 5 42.40 2/35 5.342000/01 7 5 1 74 25 18.50 93 4.77 – – 2 64 2 273 7 39.00 2/24 4.262001/02 -2002/03+ 9 8 1 241 63* 34.42 171 8.45 – 4 2 73 2 335 6 55.83 2/29 4.5823 20 3 368 63* 21.64 338 6.53 – 4 5 176.4 5 820 18 45.55 2/24 4.64(+ still in progress)WORLD CUP RECORDM I NO Runs HS Av. Balls R/Ov 100 50 Ct O M R W Av. Best R/Ov2002/03 7 6 0 123 58 20.50 89 8.29 – 2 1 57 2 254 4 63.50 2/41 4.45RECORD AGAINST EACH COUNTRYM I NO Runs HS Av. Balls R/Ov 100 50 Ct O M R W Av. Best R/OvEng -Aust 4 4 1 103 54 34.33 84 7.36 – 1 – 32 1 162 2 81.00 1/24 5.06SA -WI 3 3 1 38 25 19.00 40 5.70 – – 1 13.4 0 79 1 79.00 1/53 5.89NZ 1 1 0 4 4 4.00 5 4.80 – – – 10 0 41 2 20.50 2/41 4.10Ind 4 4 0 26 13 6.50 56 2.79 – – 1 42 1 216 3 72.00 2/35 5.14Pak 3 2 0 58 55 29.00 46 7.57 – 1 1 17 0 89 1 89.00 1/37 5.23SL 1 1 0 1 1 1.00 5 1.20 – – – 8 0 40 0 — — 5.00Bang 3 1 0 13 13 13.00 11 7.09 – – 1 28 1 93 6 15.50 2/24 3.32Ken 3 3 1 67 63* 33.50 53 7.58 – 1 – 16 1 70 3 23.33 2/29 4.37Holl 1 1 0 58 58 58.00 38 9.15 – 1 1 10 1 30 0 — — 3.0023 20 3 368 63* 21.64 338 6.53 – 4 5 176.4 5 820 18 45.55 2/24 4.64RECORD IN EACH COUNTRYM I NO Runs HS Av. Balls R/Ov 100 50 Ct O M R W Av. Best R/OvZim 16 13 3 355 63* 35.50 302 7.05 – 4 4 132 4 600 12 50.00 2/24 4.54Eng -Aust -SA 3 3 0 9 4 3.00 18 3.00 – – – 27 1 117 3 39.00 2/41 4.33WI 1 1 0 3 3 3.00 7 2.57 – – – 7 0 37 1 37.00 1/37 5.28NZ -Ind -Pak -SL -Bang -Ken 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 2 0.00 – – – 1 0 5 0 — — 5.00Shar -Sing 2 2 0 1 1 1.00 9 0.66 – – 1 9.4 0 61 2 30.50 2/35 6.3123 20 3 368 63* 21.64 338 6.53 – 4 5 176.4 5 820 18 45.55 2/24 4.64RECORD PER RESULTM I NO Runs HS Av. Balls R/Ov 100 50 Ct O M R W Av. Best R/OvWon 5 3 1 134 63* 67.00 92 8.74 – 2 2 44 2 152 8 19.00 2/24 3.45Lost 17 17 2 234 55 15.60 246 5.70 – 2 3 132.4 3 668 10 66.80 2/35 5.03Tied -Drawn 1 – – — — — — — – – – –23 20 3 368 63* 21.64 338 6.53 – 4 5 176.4 5 820 18 45.55 2/24 4.64RECORD IN EACH POSITION IN THE BATTING ORDERI NO Runs HS Av. Balls R/Ov 100 50No 3 1 1 63 63* — 43 8.79 – 1No 4 1 0 13 13 13.00 11 7.09 – -No 5 1 0 25 25 25.00 27 5.56 – -No 6 4 0 64 58 16.00 53 7.25 – 1No 7 7 1 88 55 14.66 85 6.21 – 1No 8 5 1 115 54 28.75 113 6.11 – 1No 9 1 0 0 0 0.00 6 0.00 – -20 3 368 63* 21.64 338 6.53 – 4RECORD ON DIFFERENT GROUNDSM I NO Runs HS Av. Balls R/Ov 100 50 Ct O M R W Av. Best R/OvIn Zimbabwe:Harare SC 7 6 1 75 25 15.00 120 3.75 – – – 56 2 244 7 34.86 2/24 4.35Queens 9 7 2 280 63* 56.00 182 9.23 – 4 4 76 2 356 5 71.20 2/29 4.6816 13 3 355 63* 35.50 302 7.05 – 4 4 132 4 600 12 50.00 2/24 4.54Abroad: 7 7 0 13 4 1.85 36 2.16 – – 1 44.4 1 220 6 36.66 2/35 4.92In South Africa:Bloemfontein 2 2 0 8 4 4.00 13 3.69 – – – 19 1 77 3 25.66 2/41 4.05East London 1 1 0 1 1 1.00 5 1.20 – – – 8 0 40 0 — — 5.00In West Indies:St George’s 1 1 0 3 3 3.00 7 2.57 – – – 7 0 37 1 37.00 1/37 5.28In Kenya:Nairobi Gym 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 2 0.00 – – – 1 0 5 0 — — 5.00In Singapore:Singapore 2 2 0 1 1 1.00 9 0.66 – – 1 9.4 0 61 2 30.50 2/35 6.3123 20 3 368 63* 21.64 338 6.53 – 4 5 176.4 5 820 18 45.55 2/24 4.64The following bowlers have captured Andy Blignaut’s wicket in one-day internationals:2 – S C Ganguly (I)1 – Abdur Razzaq (P), A B Agarkar (I), C R D Fernando (SL), R D King (WI), A R Kumble (I),B Lee (A), Monjurul Islam (B), E Schiferli (H), Shoaib Akhtar (P), A Symonds (A),S O Tikolo (K), S K Warne (A),Details of dismissals:bowled 2 11.77lbw – 0.00caught 10 58.82caught by wicketkeeper 1 5.88caught and bowled 1 5.88stumped – 0.00run out 3 17.65TOTAL 17 100.00%BREAKDOWN OF INNINGSScore Out Not out0 2 -1-9 7 -10-19 3 120-29 2 130-39 – -40-49 – -50-59 3 -60-70 – 1HIGHEST SCORE63* v Kenya Queens Sports Club 2002/03HIGHEST SCORES AGAINST EACH COUNTRYv England -v Australia 54 Queens Sports Club* 2002/03v South Africa -v West Indies 25 Harare Sports Club 2000/01v New Zealand 4 Bloemfontein* 2002/03v India 13 Harare Sports Club 2000/01v Pakistan 55 Queens Sports Club 2002/03v Sri Lanka 1 East London* 2002/03v Bangladesh 13 Harare Sports Club 2000/01v Kenya 63* Queens Sports Club 2002/03v Holland 58 Queens Sports Club* 2002/03LONGEST INNINGS43 balls (63*) v Kenya Queens Sports Club 2002/03CENTURY PARTNERSHIPS130* for 2nd M A Vermeulen (62*)/A M Blignaut (63*), v Kenya (Queens Sports Club) 2002/03BOWLINGFOUR WICKETS IN AN INNINGSNo instances. Best figures:10 – 1 – 24 – 2 v Bangladesh Harare Sports Club 2002/03MOST ECONOMICAL ANALYSES10 – 1 – 24 – 2 v Bangladesh Harare Sports Club 2002/03MOST EXPENSIVE ANALYSES10 – 0 – 60 – 1 v Australia Queens Sports Club 1999/2000Andy Blignaut has dismissed the following batsmen in one-day internationals:2 – Akram Khan (B), Mehrab Hossain (B)1 – S Chanderpaul (WI), R S Dravid (I), S P Fleming (NZ), S C Ganguly (I), A C Gilchrist (A),Khaled Mashud (B), A R Khurasiya (I), B J Patel (K), Mushfique Rahman (B), R D Shah (K),Shahid Afridi (P), S B Styris (NZ), A Symonds (A), S O Tikolo (K)Details of Dismissals:bowled 2 11.11lbw 1 5.56caught 12 66.67caught by wicket-keeper 3 16.67caught and bowled – 0.00TOTAL 18 100.00%Catches have been taken by the following players off Andy Blignaut’s bowling:4 – H H Streak2 – A Flower (as wicket-keeper), T J Friend (1 as substitute), N C Johnson1 – A D R Campbell, G W Flower, T Taibu (as wicket-keeper), D P Viljoen, C B WishartFIELDING2 OR MORE CATCHES IN AN INNINGSNo instances.His 5 catches have dismissed the following batsmen (* indicates a caught and bowled):1 – N Chopra (I), C H Gayle (WI), Inzamam-ul-Haq (P), Khaled Mashud (B), R H Scholte (H)
Richard Johnson, the man pulled out of this Canterbury Cricket Week fixture on Wednesday to answer England’s Trent Bridge SOS, was the Somerset batting hero as the second-placed visitors held out for a draw against third-placed Kent.Having avoided the follow-on by scrambling two leg-byes from the second ball of the fourth and final day, Somerset were finally dismissed for 336 to concede a first innings deficit of 115.Kent batted again for just 36.4 overs in adding a further 205 for three, with in-form opening batsman David Fulton scoring an unbeaten 104 for his seventh first-class century of a prolific summer.The 29-year-old right-hander scored an unbeaten 208 in the first innings, making his the first Kent batsman since Aravinda de Silva in 1995 to score a century in each innings of a match – but the county’s first to be not out in each innings.Matthew Fleming’s declaration left Somerset an unlikely victory target of 321 from 41 overs, but with left-armer Min Patel and off-spinner Andrew Symonds bowling in tandem Kent were able to crowd the bat and apply the pressure.Only captain Jamie Cox and Peter Bowler made it past 20 for Somerset as Patel followed his first innings haul of eight for 119, with four victims second time around to finish with career-best match figures of 12 for 144.Symonds chipped in with three for 28 from the Nackington Road End, but it was Johnson and his ninth wicket partner Steffan Jones who batted out the final six overs of the match to prevent Kent from pulling off their fourth consecutive championship win.Fulton, who now boasts a season’s first-class run tally to 1,465 at an average of 73.25, also claimed seven catches in the match – but Kent were left to rue their six missed chances of day three.
Bayern Munich are now preparing a £44m bid for one of Manchester United’s most important players, having identified him as the perfect target.
Two Man Utd players cause off-field controversy
There has been no shortage of controversy surrounding Man United since the 4-4 draw against AFC Bournemouth on Monday night, with Kobbie Mainoo’s brother, Jordan Mainoo-Hames, coming under fire for his questionable choice of shirt.
Mainoo has received very little game time this season, with the central midfielder still yet to start a Premier League game, but his brother’s stunt sparked an angry reaction from Simon Jordan, who said: “That’s part of the deterioration of the brand and ultimately the club’s culture when you’ve young players that have an expectation that they should be in the Man United team and so if they don’t they get their idiot brother to stand inside the stands wearing a t-shirt.”
Not only that, but Bruno Fernandes has taken aim at the board for their stance on selling him in the summer, saying: “Man United wanted me to leave last summer, I have that in my head.”
“I told the directors this, but I think they didn’t have the courage to make that decision.”
Now, Fernandes could be presented with an opportunity to leave the Red Devils, with a report from Spain revealing Bayern Munich are preparing a €50m (£44m) offer for the attacking midfielder, which could arrive in the summer transfer window.
The Portugal international has been identified as the perfect target for the Bundesliga side, and there is a growing feeling this season could be his last at Old Trafford, with the Man United star now considering leaving.
Having been left extremely hurt by United’s willingness to offload him in the summer, there is a rift between the 31-year-old and the board, meaning the door may now be open for a move to the Allianz Arena, which would be a major blow for Ruben Amorim…
Bruno 2.0: Amorim pushing Man Utd to sign "world's most underrated player"
Ruben Amorim is driving Manchester United’s pursuit of another Bruno Fernandes-style figure.
ByRobbie Walls Man Utd must keep hold of Fernandes
While the £300k-a-week midfielder was left frustrated with the board in the summer, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has waxed lyrical about him in the past, describing the former Sporting CP man as a “fabulous footballer”.
Subscribe for deeper transfer insight on Fernandes Gain deeper analysis on transfer sagas and club dynamics by subscribing to our newsletter. We unpack rumours, board-player relationships, tactical fit and what Bayern’s interest in Fernandes could mean for clubs and careers. Subscribe for deeper transfer insight on Fernandes Gain deeper analysis on transfer sagas and club dynamics by subscribing to our newsletter. We unpack rumours, board-player relationships, tactical fit and what Bayern’s interest in Fernandes could mean for clubs and careers.
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Despite predominantly featuring in a deeper role, the United captain has continued to impress during the first half of the current campaign, picking up five goals and seven assists in 16 Premier League outings, most recently scoring a fantastic free-kick against Bournemouth.
Having set up more goals than any other Premier League player this season, Fernandes is showing no signs of slowing down, and it is vital that Man United resist any approaches from Bayern Munich.
England allrounder Luke Wright has joined the ranks of players who have turned down offers from IPL franchises.Earlier this week Ravi Bopara and Sajid Mahmood revealed that they had also been approached to join IPL, but both opted to put their England ambitions ahead of short-term financial gain.”At the moment my main focus and priority is playing for my country,” Wright said. “Obviously I was very pleased to be considered for the IPL. If the timings were different and it wasn’t going to affect my chances of playing for England then it would be something I would seriously have to consider.”Wright is not centrally contracted to the ECB and so would only have required permission from Sussex to play in the IPL.
Bangladesh, the favourites, sealed their place in the final with a 59-run victory against Hong Kong at Johor Bahru. The result owed much to the guile of little 16-year old left-arm spinner Champa Chakma who took 3 for 16 with a variety of top-spinners, in-cutters and googlies that had all who faced her floundering.Bangladesh’s batting remains, by and large, bright and breezy and there’s always the feeling that a wicket could fall the moment they play an attacking shot. Singles aren’t fancied in case, thus the false economy of a hard hit is chosen. To generate power the players swing the bat hard; inevitably, more shots than not go in the air.Salma Khatun and Panna Ghosh are alone in being able to drive on the off on the front foot along the ground and look a class apart from their team-mates. Their partnership of 37 in a little over 10 overs for the fourth wicket did much to steady Bangladesh after they’d lost two wickets in two balls in the eighth over.When Khatun was out, flat-batting firmly to a terrific diving catch at cover by Samantha McIlwraith, Bangladesh were just about getting their noses in front. Three more wickets fell for 10 however, and Hong Kong were back in the game.Had Panna Ghosh been held at long-on when on 28 (one of three chances she offered) and two run-out chances taken, Bangladesh would have been struggling. Her partnership with the bustling Tithi Rani Sarker at the end of the innings ran Hong Kong ragged. Twenty runs were put on in the last four overs and Bangladesh managed to reach their pre-match target of 100.They thought it would be enough. One obstacle remained however, Hong Kong’s captain Neisha Pratt. Until she was out, Bangladesh couldn’t rest. Pratt came in at 4 so as to better negotiate the perceived spin-treat of Bangladesh and when she took guard with her team at 14 for 2, the innings rested on her shoulders. Ghosh’s pace was negotiated safely and one could sense that Pratt was just playing herself in, looking to build a platform for her side’s victory.Chakma’s second delivery fizzed past the edge, Pratt was out of her crease and the bails were whipped off. Even Bangladesh’s manager screamed with joy.If Chakma was too good for Pratt, she was way too good for the rest. Barely nudging four foot and from a part of Bangladesh (the Chittagong Hills) that didn’t know of cricket until the 21st century, Chakma possesses a repertoire of which Monty Panesar would be proud.The ball that did for Renee Montgomery would have foxed anyone and had even the umpire from her end, S. Chandrasekaran admiring it. He said after the match’s conclusion, “Through the air it looked like it was going to the off, and the batsman shaped to drive, on pitching it just darts in and takes leg-stump. She has one that bounces, one that moves away and one that moves in, there’s one that gets quicker off the pitch…..” Spinners took six of the Hong Kong wickets to fall.Chakma is pretty good and so is Hong Kong’s left-arm prodigy thirteen year-old Chan Sau Har. She gets prodigious bat-beating turn herself and has major star-quality. It wasn’t her or Hong Kong’s day today. Bangladesh were just too good.”It’s a learning curve for both teams,” said Hong Kong’s coach Lal Jayasinghe. “The gap between Bangladesh and the other Test-playing countries of Asia is like the gap between us and them, but take the best young players from both teams and give them every chance to improve, within a few years they’ll be a match for the rest.”Hong Kong captain Neisha Pratt said: “There are many positives we can draw from this tournament. Our young players really got stuck in and showed a lot of character especially in the bowling department.”Clearly our batting has been disappointing and we’ll be working hard on this area. We’ve now seen the level of competition in Asian women’s cricket and, with a lot of hard work from the squad and continuing provision of resources Hong Kong can be confident of competing successfully at this and higher levels moving forward.”Bangladesh will meet Nepal in the final on July 18 after they defeated China in the other semi final.
The subject of the number of overseas players in English cricket has been argued over for years, but the recent influx of players under the Kolpak ruling has taken the debate onto a new level. The number of South Africans playing county and club cricket has never been higher, and most benefit from having British passports through parents or grandparents.But while the issue is a concern to the English, it is also a worry for South Africa. Graham Ford, Kent’s South African director of cricket, has been responsible for an influx of his countrymen to Canterbury, but he is worried by the trend.He told AFP that he is inundated by phone calls and e-mails from South African parents desperate to get their sons into one of the leagues. “Every week, I receive hundreds of queries. I’m extremely concerned that so many quality players are deciding to play elsewhere. If we continue to lose so much talent it’s bound to threaten our depth and it’s going to be terribly difficult in the long run to maintain that same quality.”It was Ford, who coached the South African national side until 2001, who first identified that Kevin Pietersen was a special talent. “A lot of people ask me how we could let someone like that go,” Ford shrugged. “I don’t have an answer. I tried to keep him in South Africa but it didn’t work out. The really worrying thing from a South African perspective is that we have no idea how many other potential matchwinners we are losing.”South Africans have a big problem regarding KP [Kevin Pietersen]. They don’t want to acknowledge that this guy is an exceptional talent. Of course it’s sad seeing Pietersen winning games single-handedly for England when he could be doing it for South Africa,” said Ford.Ford added that the player drain was continuing. Former international wicketkeeper Nic Pothas, 32, will qualify to play for England this season – although his chances of a call-up are almost non existent – while Jonathan Trott, who is only 25, could well be drafted in after strong performances.”The lure of the pound is very strong and you can’t always fight against that,” admitted Ford. “But there are other reasons as well. Disillusionment is just one of them. And then there are a whole lot of guys who simply haven’t made it and are feeling sorry for themselves. It’s a convenient excuse to blame the situation back home.”This winter, Ford, who coached the South African national side until 2001, will return to the republic to take charge of the Dolphins.